Rotary engine.



No. 895,861. PATENTED AUG. 11, 1908.

' J. HOKANSON. ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 14, 1908.

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WITNESSES INVENTOH A TTOHNEYS No. 895,861. PATENTED AUG. 11, 1908.

J. HOKANS-ON. ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLIGA TION FILED JAN. 14, 1908.

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PATENTED AUG. 11, 1908.

ROTARY ENGINE. APPLIOATIGN FILED JAN.14, 1908.

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A TTOHNE Y S PATENTED AUG. 11, 1908.

No. 895,861. I

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ROTARY ENGINE.

SAPPLICATIQN FILED JANJA', 1908. 5 sHEETsf-SHEET 5| ii-m" 5,

,15 16 1a 5 --------F 137 v INVENTOH JOHN HOKANSON, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

, ROTARY ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 11, 1908.

Application filed January 14, 1908 Serial No. 410,739.

. ments in rotary engines adapted to be operated by steam or any other motive fluid under pressure, and relates more particularly to improvements in that type of rotary engine having a piston carried by a rotating piston wheel and movable through an annular chamber normally subdivided by a sliding abutment.

The invention involves certain improvements in the sliding abutment, the means for operating the same, the means for controlling t e supply and escape of the motive fluid,

and the construction of the piston wheel and casin Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures, and in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of an engine constructed in accordance with my invention and showing the connections to one of the reversing valves in section; Fig. 2 is an end view of the left-hand end of the engine shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a view of the right-hand end of the engine shown in Fig. 1, the connections to the steam controlling valve being shown in section; Fig. 4 is a vertical section showing the sliding abutment and arrange.

ment of reversing valve; Fig. 5 is a transverse section on the line 55 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 6 is a detail showing a portion of the easing construction, but with the sliding abutment removed.

In my improved engine, I employ acasing preferably formed of two sections 10 and 11, each of which involves or carries journals for the main shaft 12, and between which is held a rotating iston wheel13 and a piston 14 carried there y. The space within the casing and between the two sections is preferably considerably wider adjacent the periphery than adjacent the shaft. The piston wheel is comparatively thin and disposed adjacent the flat section 1 1 of the casing, while the piston 14 not only extends outwardly radially from the periphery of the piston wheel but also extends laterally a distance considerably greater than. the thickness of the piston wheel. Adjacent the periphery of the piston Wheel there are provided packings for preventing the escape of the motive fluid toward the shaft, said packings being carried by either the piston wheel or the casing. As shown, the piston wheel carries a springpres'sed packing 15, held outward against the section 11 of the casing, while the section 10 of the casing carries a packing 16 engaging with the opposite side thereof from the packing 15. The piston wheel also carries radially-disposed packings 17 and axially-disposed packings 18 enga ing with the casing walls and reventing t e escape of motive fluid past t e piston.

The portion of the piston which extends laterally from the side of the piston wheel is disposed entirely within the annular chamber in the section 10, and the larger portion of the abutment is movable into this chamber and against the inner circumferential wall 19 thereof. The piston wheel is of somewhat smaller diameter than this inner wall 19, and the inner wall is provided with a recess 20 at one side thereof and of a depth equal to this difference in diameter. The sliding abutment enters this recess to fit into firm engagement with the wall 19 of the casing, but, at the same time, merely contacts with the periphery of the piston wheel. The

edges of the recess prevent lateral movement of the abutment at its inner. end and permit the latter to be pressed down with any desired amount of pressure, without increasing the resistance offered to the rotation of the piston wheel.

The abutment 21 fitting into the recess 20 is preferably of a width equal to the double width of the piston wheel and piston, and is mounted to reciprocate radially in respect to the main shaft 12. The abutment preferably carries packings 22 upon the opposite sides thereof and across the end, and is connected at its outer end to mechanism for intermittently moving the abutment out of the chamber to permit the passage of the piston. This mechanism preferably includes a shaft 23 mounted upon the casing at one side of the path of movement of the abutment and having an arm 24 keyed thereto and connected by a link 25 to the end of the abutment, whereby when the shaft is rotated the rocking the shaft 23, the main shaft 12 carries two eccentrics 26 and 27, rigid in respect to each other and rigid in respect to the shaft 12. As shown, the two eccentrics are integral with. each other, but may, if de sired, be separate and independently connected to the shaft. Operatively connected to the eccentrics are two eccentric rods 28 and 29 extending upon opposite sides of the shaft 23 and each having lost motion connections thereto. The shaft 23 is preferably provided with two arms 30 and 31 extending outwardly therefrom, and each arm carries a in 32 extending into a slot in a corresponding eccentric rod. Within each slot is a spring 33, normally tending to press the pin therein toward one end of the slot, the con struction being such that the spring of the rod 28 presses its pin toward the outer end of the slot, while the spring of the rod 29 presses its pin toward the inner end of the slot. The centers of the two eccentrics are disposed upon opposite sides of the center of the shaft 12, so that the eccentric rods reciprocate in opposite directions.

With the parts in the posit-ion illustrated in Fig. 2 and with the shaft 12 rotating in the direction indicated by the arrow, further rotation causes the rod 28 to move outward and therod 29 to move inward. The normal tendency of the springs to hold the pins in the endsof the slots is overcome, due to the engagement of the inner end of the abutment with the recess 20, and the pins, therefore, leave the ends of the slots as the springs are compressed. This compression of the springs tends to force the abutment inward with considerable pressure and prevents leakage of the motive fluid between the abutment and the base of the recess. When the parts have rotated through approximately three-fourths of a revolution, the pins return into engagement with the ends of the slots and further rotation causes the rod 28 to pull down on one of the arms and the rod 29 to push outward on the other arm. This positively rocks the shaft 23 and lifts the abutment out of the chamber.

The motive fluid, which may be steam, compressed air, or other fluid under pressure, is delivered to the engine through a suitable supply conduit 34, which conduit communicates with two branch conduits 35 and 36 leading to opposite sides of the abutment. Each of these branch conduits includes a valve, and the two valves are connected together ,whereby the fluid can pass from the supply conduit 34 to the engine upon only one side of the abutment at a time. These valves 37 and 38 are' preferably mounted in valve casings carried by the engine casing, and serve to connect the passages 39 and 40 of the engine casing to the branch conduits 35 and 36 or to the exhaust conduits 41 and 42. The valve stems of the two valves extend outwardly through the casing wall, and each carries an arm 43, to the outer end of which is connected an operating rod 44. The arms 43 are held in parallelism and are caused to rotatethe two valves 37 and 38 simultaneously as the rod '44 is moved longitudinally. The valves bear such a relationship to their operating arms that when one valve is opened to the supply, the other valve is opened to the exhaust. As shown in Fig. 4, when the valve 37 is open to establish communication between the branch 35 and the passage 39, the other valve 38 establishes communication between the passage 40 and the exhaust passage 42. During the normal operation of the engine, these valves are not rotated but are only moved when it is desired to reverse the direction of rotation of the engine.

The passageways 39 and 40 do not communicate directly with the interior of the working chamber, but deliver to the guideways within which the sliding abutment operates. The abutment is provided with passages 45 upon opposite sides thereof, which, when the abutment is in its innermost position, establishes communication between each of the passages 39 and 40, and with the interior of the working chamber, but when the abutment is in its outermost position no fluid can enter or leave the cylinder by way of either of the passages 39 and 40. Thus, the abutment serves as controlling means for the inlet and the exhaust in addition to its normal functions. The abutment may be relied upon as the sole controlling means for the inlet and the exhaust, and would normally be soused when the operating fluid is delivered to the working chamber throughout the full length of the stroke of the piston and the expansion of the operating motive fluid is not utilized.

To permit of a cutting off of the motive fluid after the piston has traveled through 7 valve stem extending radially in respect to the main shaft 12 and is normally held closed by a spring 47. The shaft 12 carries a cam 48 of any form desired, and constructed to hold the valve 46 open during any desired portion of the rotation of said shaft. The cam engages with a roller 49 at the end of the valve rod at the time that the abutment reaches its innermost position'after the piston has passed the same; that is, when theparts are in the position shown in Fig. 4. The valve may be closed to cut off the supply of motive fluid so as to utilize the expansion of said fluid within the chamber at a time dependent upon the particular shape of the cam employed.

Having thus described my invention, I

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A rotary engine having an annular chamber, a piston operating therein, a slid ing abutment, movable into said chamber, an oscillating shaft operatively connected to said abutment, a main shaft for said engine, two eccentrics u on said shaft, and means connecting said st-mentioned shaft to each of said eccentrics,

2. In a rotary engine, an annular chamber, a sliding abutment movable into said chamber, an oscillatory shaft operatively connected to said abutment, a main shaft, two eccentrics upon said main shaft, and an eccentrio rod connected to each of said eccentrics and operatively connected to said first-mentioned shaft for oscillating the same.

3. In a rotary engine, an annular chamber, a piston operating therein, a sliding abutment movable into said chamber, means for intermittently reciprocating said abutment, said means including an oscillating shaft operatively connected to the abutment, a main shaft, two eccentrics on said main shaft and having their centers disposed upon opposite sides of the center of said main shaft, two eccentric rods in engagement with said eccentrics, and oppositely-disposed arms extending from said oscillatory shaft, each of said arms having sliding engagement with one of said-eccentric rods.

4. A rotary engine having an annular chamber, a piston operating therein, a sliding abutment movable into said chamber, an oscillating shaft operatively connected to said abutment, a main shaft for said engine, two eccentrics upon said shaft, and lost motion connections between saidfirst-mentioned shaft and said eccentrics.

5. A rotary engine having an annular chamber, a piston operating therein, a sliding abutment movable into said chamber, an oscillating shaft operatively connected to said abutment, an arm secured to said shaft,

a main shaft for said engine, an eccentric upon said main shaft, an eccentric rod in engagement therewith and having aslot disposed longitudinally thereof and operatively connected to said arm, and a spring within said slot normally tending to retain said arm at one end of said slot.

6. A rotary engine having an annular chamber, a piston operating therein, an abutment movable into and out of said chamber and having passages therein upon opposite sides, a supply conduit communicating with one of said passages, an exhaust conduit communicating with theother of said passages, said abutment serving to close both of said conduits when withdrawn from said chamber, a main shaft for said engine, an eccentric upon said main shaft, means connecting said eccentric and said abutment for intermittently withdrawing the latter, a valve in said supply conduit, a cam on said shaft, and means for operating said valve from said cam to control the flow of fluid to the passage in said abutment.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN HOKANSON. Witnesses OLALR W. FAIRBANK, EVERARD B. MARSHALL. 

